Mindsets: Playing With Principles & Studying The Science

Examined the topic of Art versus Science in BJJ a while back, coming to the conclusion that BJJ was individual, and therefore more artistic in nature.

Fast forward to now, two things have happened after time off:

Number one, there’s a desire to have fun and be much more open in ‘live’ situations be it sparring or drilling. Here the focus is play, movement, and exploration as opposed to competition, control, and confirmation.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s always going to be a degree of competition, control, and confirmation that’s built into the fabric going live, but too much at the behest playing open leads to a tight, restrictive, and stagnated approach geared toward validation.

So, while I still think artistry is still individual, another branch is about being open, flowing, and receptive during training and the greater journey at large.

Couple the above with a desire to start cataloging all my positions as detailed as possible. lol

On the surface, the two ideas are somewhat conflicting, but I realized the cataloging, detail phase is what constitutes the scientific aspect of Jiu-Jitsu:

That is, what are the specific bio-mechanics that make a position work in a given scenario?

The preceding idea is a microcosm phase where we’re pinpointing scenarios, structure, weight distribution, energy efficiency, and strategy as it relates to a Jiu-Jitsu.

In conclusion, play with principles while rolling and think specific bio-mechanics when studying.